


Come On Up to the House

by FreshBrains



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Spoilers, Bechdel Test Pass, Depression, Female Friendship, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, POV Laura Barton, Post-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-02
Updated: 2015-05-02
Packaged: 2018-03-26 18:15:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3859798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreshBrains/pseuds/FreshBrains
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laura definitely understands how being an Avenger can take parts of you, bit by bit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Come On Up to the House

**Author's Note:**

> **This fic includes Major Spoilers for _Avengers: Age of Ultron._**.

“Well, hi there,” Laura says, hand on her hip.  She’s just finding out its getting too cold for bare feet as the dew on the porch sinks uncomfortably between her toes.  “Now who might you be?”

The girl looks so young there on the porch, sitting with her hair down and covering her face, her boots too big for her feet.  But when she looks up, her makeup smeared around her big eyes, Laura knows she’s at least twenty and had seen _way_ too much of the world already.  The girl sniffles and wipes her nose with the back of her wrist.  “I’m sorry, Mrs. Barton.  I did not know where else to go.”

She’s Russian maybe, or German, her accent heavy and rolling, and Laura realizes with a flash exactly who this girl is.  “You’re always welcome, Wanda.  Let’s go inside, okay?”

Laura won’t deny it—she’s used to picking up strays.  Sure, the kids will bring around any lame dog or injured cat for her to (happily) nurse back to health and set up in the barn, but there’s also been the odd Avenger visiting for a spell to beg her for more strawberry shortcake or historical fiction recommendations, or Kate coming by with Lucky for a hug and the sort of advice she never got from her own mother, or Bobbi and Natasha rolling up the gravel drive in some outrageous sports car to whisk her into the city for an afternoon of shopping.

Hey, she’s supportive of the avenging and all that comes with it.  She knew what she was signing up for.

Wanda takes her boots off in the entryway, setting them neatly next to the door.  “I’m sorry, I’m a bit dirty.  I needed to walk here, clear my mind.”

“No harm,” Laura says easily.  Her own kids track in more dirt than anything and they’re pretty good about cleaning up after themselves.  “I’m surprised you haven’t visited until now.  You don’t have to be a stranger.”

Wanda nods, cheeks flushed, and enters the house with her shoulders hunched and her eyes darting, like she’s expecting a trap.  “Yes, thank you.  I have been training at the New Avengers facility.”

“Ah,” Laura says, pulling a chair out for Wanda.  She fills the kettle and gets it ready on the stove then opens the cupboard for something easy and sweet—Oreos usually did the trick for tears.  “I hope Nat and Steve are treating you well.”

“They are,” Wanda says quickly, turning in her chair to look at Laura.  “Very well, thank you.  I just…”

Laura frowns, leaning against the counter.  The baby monitor chirps a bit but quiets just as quickly, Nathanial falling back to sleep upstairs.  “You’ve been through a lot, sweetheart.  They can’t expect you to be strong _all_ the time.”  It’s taken her a long time to even expect that of herself.  She’s never been weak-willed; she’s never wept over Clint’s absence or pined for him at night.  She misses him and fears for him, but she’s still _Laura_ in the end, her own being.  She still has her life and her kids and everything that came before The Avengers.

And she definitely understands how being an Avenger can take parts of you, bit by bit.

Wanda bows her head, hands wringing in her laps, and begins to cry.  It’s heavy and hard, like she’s been holding it in for a long time, and Laura’s heart aches.  “They’re so good.  They use…they use strength for good things.  And I’ve done such bad… _bad_ things.”

Laura sighs, wondering how in the hell they haven’t sent Wanda her way before.  “Can I hold you?” She moves gently towards Wanda, knowing full well what the girl can do with her mind.  She’s not afraid of her or what she can do; if she wanted to root around in Laura’s mind, that was her own issue.  “Can I comfort you?”

Wanda nods eagerly and Laura wraps her arms around the girl, holding her tight to her chest, making gentle shushing noises into the tangle of her hair.  “There we go, let it all out.  You need a good cry.”

“They used to,” Wanda gasps, hiccupping, “they used to tell me not to cry, long ago.  To keep it all in.  Only Pietro could see me cry.”

Laura lets go for a moment and squats down next to Wanda’s chair, holding the girl’s shaking hands tight in her own.  “Hey, listen to me.  There’s nothing wrong with crying.  It doesn’t make you weak.”  She kneads Wanda’s hands in hers, tangling their fingers together, sharing the textures of their skin.  She’s used to doing it with Lila when she needs to stim; the movement is easy and flowing for her.  “It just makes you human.”

Wanda inhales deeply, her breathing evening out.  “I like to feel like that.  Human.”

Laura smiles and rubs tears out from under Wanda’s eyes with her thumbs.  “Don’t we all, kiddo?”

Wanda cracks a smile then, a small one, relieved but not happy.  She’s just lost her brother, her twin, her second half—Laura can’t begin to think about what that feels like.  She only knows how to provide comfort to this woman bursting with strength and power who looks like she wants to disappear. 

“Your children,” Wanda says, still sniffling.  “They are here?”

“Lila is at school and the boys are napping,” Laura says, and the kettle whistles.  She pulls two mugs out from the cupboard.  “But I’m sure the little one will be up soon.”

“I love children,” Wanda says shyly, accepting her tea with a smile.  “My brother always teased me so, calling me soft.  But I’d like to be a mama.”  She flushes again and idly dunks her tea-bag into her cup.  “I don’t know why I told you this.  I’m sorry.”

Laura just smiles, rubbing Wanda’s shoulder.  “Don’t be sorry.  I think we’re going to be friends, Wanda.”

“I would like that very much,” Wanda says, and takes a small sip of her tea, like she’s savoring just that tiny moment for what it is.

**Author's Note:**

> (I know Kate, Bobbi, and Lucky make, like, _no_ sense in the MCU, especially after _Age of Ultron_ , but I can’t do Clint without Kate so I put her in there just a little bit).


End file.
